In the general area of firearms there has been much development for military and police purposes of automatic and semi-automatic firearms. Generally these firearms have been developed to fire relatively small caliber shells. Such firearms do not have the recoil of a shotgun and further do not present the same problems with regard to the loading of shells into the firing chamber and the subsequent ejection of the spent shells from the firing chamber. Shotgun shells are several times larger than the shells that are conventionally used in automatic and semi-automatic weapons and generally are not of the same uniformity from shell to shell. However, a shotgun will provide the person handling the weapon with a greater degree of protection. By this it is meant that a shotgun will put out a pattern of projectiles over a certain area rather than firing one projectile into that area. This increases the probability that a target will be hit with at least some of the projectiles, even from a rather long distance.
The present shotgun firearm can be accurately used at a distance of at least 100 yards. At this distance the operator of the shotgun will be able to disable his target. This is from but a single shell. However, when used in the automatic mode, this firearm will fire shells at a rate that a fairly large area can be covered. For instance, this firearm is capable of firing at least 360 rounds per minute. In the semi-automatic mode the number of rounds per minute will be controlled by the person using the firearm.
Another significant feature of the present firearm is its simplicity. The firearm consists of very few parts, but yet is highly reliable and is not subject to shell misfirings. That is, there is a positive injection of each shell into the firing chamber and a reliable ejection of the spent shells from the firing chamber. In the past it has been difficult to feed shotgun shells from the magazine into the firing chamber under high rates of firing due to the recoil of the firearm and other problems. The positive injection of shells is primarily the result of the angle of the magazine with relation to the firing chamber and the particular bolt carrier and bolt arrangement that is used in this firearm.
The magazines that can be used are either the straight or curved clip, or the round drum magazine. The round drum magazine is capable of holding more rounds of ammunition and would be preferred in combat situations. The bolt carrier and bolt arrangement is also a unique feature of this firearm. The bolt carrier and bolt arrangement permit for a timing between the bolt carrier and bolt, and further the arrangement will absorb the torquing moment of the weapon while it is being fired.
This present firearm is gas actuated. That is, after the loading of the first shell manually, the other shells are automatically loaded into the firing chamber. In such a firearm some of the gases that have been produced during the firing of the weapon will provide the necessary energy for the remainder of the firing of the weapon. That is, these gases will move the bolt carrier and bolt rearwardly after each round is fired. In this regard some of the high pressure gases from the barrel are utilized in the operation of the bolt carrier and of the bolt. The timing of the movement of the bolt with relation to the bolt carrier also is an important feature with regard to the present firearm. Without this proper timing the weapon would be subject to misfiring, and particularly when it was being used in the full automatic mode.